Fat people are funny. Fat people are stupid. Fat people are lazy. Fat people are virginal. Fat people only look that way because they eat too much. I've heard people say or imply stereotypes like these regarding overweight or obese individuals without even batting an eye.

Certainly, there are stereotypes about every type of race, ethnicity and sexual orientation, but there are also plenty of open-minded people to combat these kinds of prejudices. With attacks against fat people, more often than not, people are in consensus that these stereotypes are actually truths that are strongly rooted in reality.

The so-called Fatosphere is trying to change all of our myths about bigger-than-average individuals. Made up of a bunch of  linked blogs, the Fatosphere bloggers use biting commentary to tear down long-accepted stereotypes of fat individuals and to claim truths about their lives and their bodies that they are not often given in mainstream America. Their blogs range from BBW (Big Beautiful Women) dating advice, fashion tips, popular culture deconstructions and plain old camaraderie.

Their words are much needed. Off the top of my head, I can name many digs against fat people. Coast Beiste, the mannish, female football coach on Glee, was revealed to be a virgin (in her 50's) because she was so large and masculine. A Swedish study just released stated that heavier men had lower IQ’s than thinner men. The article I read about it was titled “Study Finds Link Between Low IQ, Large Waistline.” This silly and misleading title implies a commonly cited correlation—fat people and stupidity—that the article’s content—that individuals with lower IQ don’t have good jobs or nutritional information—belies.

Even thin or average-sized women should take a huge dose of body-lovin’ from the (mostly) female bloggers over in the Fatosphere.

I’m sure we can all name thousands of ads that rely on the stereotypes I listed above to keep thin women thin or make them lose even more weight.

Currently, the ad campaign making me the most made are the commercials for the sugar substitute Truvia. In all of the ads, women are eating or looking at cakes; in one ad, they look around guiltily like they are about to commit some crime, leaving the prize--the cake--untouched. The cutesy and reminiscent-of-a-chick-lit-novel background song’s lyrics are “I loved you sweetness/but you’re not sweet you made my butt fat…”. It’s a sad state-of-affairs when a woman can’t eat a piece of cake without feeling like she should jog around the block in guilty penance.

Although fat women face explicit discrimination, all women suffer from the consequences of stereotypes about fat bodies. Help us, Fatosphere!